Sunday, November 22, 2015

I keep putting off finishing this because I don't want to look up all the books on Amazon, so I decided not to. My first post of favorite books seems to be one of my most visited, so I thought I'd keep going with this one.
I've seen on other people's blogs that they're posting about the books the read in August, so I figured it was time to do my favorite books post from 2014. I read 82 reading books with an actual total of 126 books. Here are some of my favorites:House of Evil: The Indiana Torture Slaying by John Dean. This is about a teenage girl who goes to live with some neighbors and the mother proceeds to starve and beat her to death. There were quite a few books and some movies made on this story. It's based on a true story, and is very messed up on what this lady and her kids did to this girl. I read a lot of true crime and I'm sad to say I can't believe what people do to others.Andersonville Journey by Edward F Roberts. This is about the Confederate prison camp in the Civil War that was in Georgia. Basically, the conditions in the camp were horrible, more than 13,000 prisoners died here during the Civil War. Basically, the commander of the camp didn't have the resources to provide what was needed and the results were horrible. I had this one on my staff picks for awhile.Chernobyl by A Villesh. It's about Chernobyl, it was written not that long after the explosion, so it's more about what happened that day and the days after it than the years after it.On the Trail of the Assassins: My Investigation and Prosecution of the Murder of President Kennedy by Jim Garrison. I really liked this book, I have a fascination with the assassination of President Kennedy, and this book does well to cover the facts. Jim Garrison is a lawyer and felt like he needed to prosecute someone for the death of JFK, unfortunately the conspiracy was not easy to figure out and the person he did prosecute was on the outskirts of it. It's interesting to read about everyone's views on this event.Oddball Iowa: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places by Jerome Pohlen I really like reading about interesting places to visit in Iowa.Doctors from Hell: The Horrible Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans by Vivien Spitz This was an interesting read, maybe not for the faint of heart.Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eicher I'm not sure this is the true story because he wrote it in 2013, and it happened in 1959, so there's a lot he doesn't know/can't find out about. I think his explanation works, but it doesn't sound like exactly what happened. I like how he basically tells their story up until the night they disappeared.Banned Books: Literature Suppressed on Social Grounds by Dawn B. Sova I think it's interesting to see what people find offensive and what I've read. There's a week to celebrate banned books at the end of September and I've found I've read a lot of banned books. It's also sad to see what people think it so offensive that they decide other people shouldn't read it.Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell I find Jack the Ripper very interesting, maybe because they never figured out who he was even after he stopped killing. This book does a very good job of looking at the details in the cases and making a decision on who he could have been. I don't think we'll ever really know because there's so much that we can't find out, but it's fun to speculate.A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive by Dave Pelzer I don't know why, but I really like to read about how messed up people are and how they treat others. I know truth is so much worse than fiction and you can't make some of the worst stuff up. I'm appalled someone would treat their own child like this and so happy that he got out.Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America by Kevin Cook this one is on my staff picks at the library. One of the things you learn when studying criminal justice (maybe not so much now) is the bystander affect: that if there are a lot of people that witness something, most people assume that someone else will call the police or intervene. This concept was based on the Kitty Genovese case. I always learned that quite a few people saw her get assaulted (they greatly increased the real number of people) and just assumed that someone else would do something. This book proves that wrong. That's not how it happened. Very good book.A Brother's Journey: Surviving a Childhood of Abuse by Richard B. Pelzer This is Dave Pelzer's brother and his story about what happened after Dave got out. Again, a very sad book.Inside Charlie's Chocolate Factory: The Complete Story of Willy Wonka, The Golden Ticket, and Roald Dahl's Most Famous Creation by Lucy Mangan I'm stealing an review I wrote shortly after I read this book from another post. It's all about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, apparently we're celebrating the 50th anniversary this year. If you look at the pages of the book from the outside, you see there is a rainbow of colors, each one a different section in the book. There is an introduction from one of Roald's grandchildren about the wonderment of chocolate at his house. The book starts out with re...d: the background on writing Charlie and the Chocolate factory, then goes into orange: Charlie going to video and stage, next is yellow: focusing on the various illustrators of the books, and then blue: showing the effect on popular culture with various memorabilia including a LEGO Chocolate room and tiny dolls of Willy and Oompa Loompas. Purple follows focusing on chocolate, and how people tried to make Wonka bars and take chocolate to whole new levels, finally there is green: with the thoughts from critics and fans about the book. Throughout, there is illustrations from the book, movies, plays and fans creations. Very cool!The Siege: 68 Hours Inside the Taj Hotel by Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy This book stayed with me a long time after reading it. It's about the terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Toiba's attack on Mumbai in 2008 and focuses mostly on the terrorist group's attack on the Taj Hotel. It follows several of the people in the hotel and their horrible night.Long Mile Home: Boston Under Attack, the City's Courageous Recover and the Epic Hunt for Justice by Scott Helman & Jenna Russel Have you noticed a theme in the books I read and the ones that really stick with me? I love the self-less acts of the people in this book.My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate their Favorite Places to Browse, Read and Shop edited by Ronald Rice I also love reading about what other people love. I really liked this book with all the detail the writers put into describing some of their favorite places, it made me want to step through the book into the stores.Cujo by Stephen King I don't read a lot of fiction books, but I saw the movie and my dad said it scared him so much, I had to see how different it was from the book. I enjoy reading Stephen King books, the detail he puts into things is great.

That was the last book I read in 2014. I'm up to 101 reading books (over 200 pages or with deep content) this year. I will do a post on favorite books for three or four months soon. What are your favorite books?

Saturday, November 21, 2015

I'm not excited for snow. I know it's getting to be that time, but ever since I had to help shovel, I've never been excited for it. I no longer shovel (I will have to in the future), but I still don't like it. We had our first snow storm last night. They were predicting it to be really bad. It started early yesterday afternoon with small flakes melting when they hit the ground. I think it finally started sticking about 3pm and just kept going all night. They said we were going to have quite a few inches of the wet heavy stuff, thankfully we didn't. It's all light and fluffy. Today, the sun came out, which I hate in the winter, because it's always a cold day when the sun comes out. Windchill was around 4, supposedly, I went out about 11, with my heavy coat, scarf and hat and I was sweaty by the time I got home a few hours later. I was just shopping downtown, wasn't exerting much energy. I didn't appreciate all the ice underneath the snow. Most people had their sidewalks shoveled, but because it melted so much when it started, it was ice underneath, not the best to be walking in. I was a little worried about tomorrow when I had to catch the bus for work, but then I got home and found out the game was cancelled due to the other team not being able to get here. Funny thing, the forecast predicts temperatures in the 50's on Wed and Thurs.

And now that it's colder, it's cold in my apartment. My new landlord's like it cold. I realized they had the AC on pretty much all summer. Last year, my apartment didn't get much warmer than 66. And it looks like it will be the same this year. Oh well, I have sweaters, warm socks and blankets.

Life has been interesting around here. Monday we started the week with power out for about an hour. I guess I'm happier it went out last week and will (hopefully) not go out this week when it's a little cooler. That was a great way to start the week.
Wednesday I went shopping with my friend, it was fun, but not that exciting. We went to Michael's where I picked up a gift for a swap partner, a reindeer for my brother and an owl ornament for me. Next stop was lunch at Burger King, I have been craving Burger King for so long, and I had coupons, so win win. After lunch, we went to the big Target where I picked up hangers, weirdly enough when you buy lots of new shirts you need hangers to put them on, and some wrapping paper. I got the wrapping paper because I was going to be really creative with my wrapping for my swap partner, but that didn't work out. I found I still had wrapping paper at home, so I used that up. JoAnn's was next, everything I bought was on sale. I picked up a pair of Halloween purple and black striped tights for 70% off, then a kinda ugly/cute owl pincushion/tape measure, and a cute wooden keychain. Now that I'm home, I realize the owl is pretty ugly and I probably shouldn't have bought him. Last stop was Sam's Club, my friend has a membership and they always have such good looking food. I bought a giant dot-to-dot book and some cupcake chocolates. I really shouldn't have bought either, the other day I was cleaning and realized I didn't need anymore activity books, so I bought another one. And I have way too much chocolate here already. I found that if I ate a piece of chocolate every morning, I had enough to last me through the middle of February, now I have more.
My parents would not make a decision for Thanksgiving, so I finally just made my own menu and I hope they like it. Usually my brother comes over from Chicago and cooks for us, this year he decided to go with his girlfriend to her parents' in New Orleans. Last week I picked up a pork roast, I already bought zucchini bread in October. I was looking at my Taste of Home cookbooks (can't go wrong with those) and decided on Lemon Parsley Potatoes, Caprese Salad, Veggie Dip and Rice pudding. I talked to my dad about it when I went to do my laundry this week, and he had a few additional suggestions, I don't know what my mother thinks about it. I do know we'll have to go grocery shopping again, I wasn't sure how long some things would stay fresh.
Friday was the big snowstorm. I went grocery shopping on my way home from work, it wasn't as busy as I figured it would be.
And, now it's Saturday. I decided to go downtown to do some shopping for my swap partner. I went to a lot of local stores and I think I did pretty well. I have to have 12 gifts and I believe I'm at 11. I won't have a picture of all the gifts in my reveal post this year, as I wrapped them right when I got home and didn't get around to getting a picture. I'm really happy with what I got though.

I was on Facebook tonight and on one of my groups Neighbors helping neighbors, someone was asking for Christmas decorations as she was no longer homeless this year. I have a lot of decorations and I was planning on weeding them out anyways, so I thought I'd see what she wanted. I also want to put some gifts in the stockings for her, because she's low on money. I'm really excited to do this. I don't have a ton of extra money, but it sounds like she has way less, so why not share? Isn't that what the season's all about anyway?

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

It's Wednesday (almost), which means it's time for Hodgepodge. Head on over to Joyce's blog to see others answers.

1. What's surprised you most about your life, or about life in general? That I'm still here. 2. Among others, these ten words were added to the Oxford English Dictionary this year...awesomesauce, beer o'clock, brain fart, buttdial, cat cafe (apparently this is a real thing), fatberg (gross-read the definition here), fat shame, hangry, Mx (gender neutral), and skippable. Your thoughts? I think it's kinda weird to add new words every year, and some of the words are very weird indeed.
In looking over the list, which word do you find most ridiculous? Hangry, to me you're just saying it wrong, it sounds kinda stupid. Also, Mx, As far as I've seen, you don't have to have that marked on paperwork, so why not just skip over it?
Which word would you never in a million years say out loud? Let's go with fatberg, because that is so gross and nasty, now that I know what it is, I never want to see a picture or think about it again.
Which word would you be most likely to use in conversation? Brain fart, I've used it before. Mostly I say I've lost my mind and let me know if you find it. 3. Do you like gravy? Is there a food you'd rather not eat unless it comes with gravy? Do you make your own or buy the canned or store-made variety? Turkey and gravy, sausage gravy, mashed potatoes and gravy, country ham and red eye gravy, biscuits and chocolate gravy, pot roast and gravy...which one on the list is your favorite? I don't like gravy, to me it's just a way to smother something you don't like with fat.

4. Do you have a plan? Do you need a plan? Have you ever had a plan fall into a trillion pieces? Explain. I try to have a plan, sometimes I get a little freaked out if I don't, but it also depends on the situation.

5. November 19 is National Play Monopoly Day. Do you own the original or some version of the game? I don't have any Monopoly games in my possession.
Do you enjoy playing Monopoly? I don't really like Monopoly. My brother loves Monopoly and has quite a few versions of it. I don't like the fact that it takes forever to play. I like when we play it without the houses and motels because it doesn't take as long.
How likely is it you'll play a game of Monopoly on November 19th? I won't be playing Monopoly on the 19th, guarantee.
Ever been to Atlantic City? I haven't been to Atlantic City.
Ever taken a ride on a railroad? Not like a long one, I've been on a scenic train ride.
Is parking in your town free? It depends on where you park. On residential streets, it's free, but there are also a lot of metered parking spots.
Last thing you took a chance on? Life.

6. A song you like that has the word (or some form of the word) thanks in the title, lyrics, or meaning? Nothing comes to mind, but I'm sure there are a ton of songs with it in them. It's way too much thinking for this late at night.

7. In keeping with this month's theme of gratitude....what is something you're taking for granted that when you stop and think about it, you're grateful for? Books. There was a time when there were subscription libraries and you couldn't have access to the books unless you paid. That seems like a horrible world. I would hate to live where I didn't have access to books.

8. Insert your own random thought here. I have so many things on my mind right now. Quite a few things have changed now that I make more money, it was so much easier when I was poor and didn't have to worry about them. Then there's the moving thing, and I'm helping my mother get ready for a holiday open house, and she's stressful. With the stuff going on in my life, I'd love to just skip over December (except for the whole Christmas presents part, including the swap I'm in and giving to other people) and just wake up in January. It would make life a lot easier.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

It's Hodgepodge time, check out Joyce's blog to see how other people answered.

1. In two or three sentences tell us what Veteran's Day means to you?

Honestly, the only thing it really means to me, is no mail. I know that sounds horrible, but I don't really remember doing anything for Veteran's Day growing up, and I always remember the Marines birthday (11/10) more than I remember Veteran's Day. Don't get me wrong, I am very appreciative for every veteran in America, but I don't choose just one day to show my appreciation.

2. What's your favorite film with a patriotic theme woven into the storyline?I really like We Were Soldiers.

3. Flu shot-yes or no? If you answered no, do you plan to get a flu shot? If not, why not? Have you ever had the flu?

I don't do flu shots. I usually don't get the flu, more often I get a cold every winter season. I've also heard of stories of people getting the flu after getting the shot. There was one year I got what I believe was the flu, and it pretty much knocked me flat, it was a few years ago when we were moving the library into the temporary space and right around Thanksgiving. That wasn't fun, it only took me out for a few days and two of those were days I got off anyway.

4. I've seen lots of people posting pictures of their Christmas trees up and decorated. Many stores have had Christmas on display since well before Halloween. Red cups are back at Starbucks, sans the holiday decor, and that has some people up in arms. What are your thoughts on all the holiday ruckus this second week of November?I think it's way too early for Christmas stuff. I have signed up for one Christmas swap (see previous post), but you have to sign up early for swaps. I don't usually get my holiday out until there's snow on the ground, or after Thanksgiving, whichever comes first.

My mom signed up to be on a Holiday Home Tour this year (which is 12/5-6), so I've already helped her bring out some Christmas stuff. But, mine's not coming out anytime soon.

I did wrap some presents the other day, I'm mostly done with family presents, that's always a relief.

5. What 'critter' are you most afraid of encountering unexpectedly? Why that one?Raccoons, they live in the sewers here and I really just don't like them. They get rather large in our sewers, it's kinda creepy. There was one day I was coming home, it was still light out, and I saw one on the sidewalk. Totally freaked me out.

6. Do you like building things? What's the last thing you 'built'?I haven't built anything in a long time. I like getting things that need to be built. I think it's fun to get all the parts out, and create something entirely different out of them. I just remembered, I did 'build' some easels for the library sometime in the past year. It wasn't really building, but I did put pieces together to create something else, that totally counts, right?

7. In keeping with this month's theme of gratitude...what are you most grateful for that brings beauty to your daily life?nature. It seems like there's always something neat in nature going on. It also seems when I'm rushing to get somewhere, something pops out and makes me stop and pay attention to it.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My landlords informed me I would have to move within the year. I knew this was going to happen, but I had hoped I could stay at least another year. I was hoping I could enjoy the extra money of my new job a little before worrying about something else. I guess I should know better by now.

It's that time of year. Time for the 12 Days of Christmas Swap through Chaotic Goddesses SwapsI love this swap, basically you get a partner, get to know them and then pick out 12 gifts for them open up December 13th through the 25th. Who doesn't want more gifts for Christmas?Go here, to see what I got last year, here's what I sent:

The thing I love the best about swaps, I love to give the perfect gift. I love learning about my swap partner and picking out items to send. Actually I love giving gifts to people.

I've been looking forward to this swap all year, but especially since I got my new job. I really wanted to join a swap when I got the job, but it was around Halloween swapping time, and I'm not really a Halloween person.

Sunday, November 08, 2015

So, does anyone read these?
Let's see last Sunday was my day off, I don't recall doing much. I believe I was deep in watching Bones Season 10, I also watched that on Monday. I don't know what I did on Tuesday, other than working that night. Wednesday was my day off, so I did laundry. Thursday I had to work in the morning. I worked the first women's basketball game of the season that night.
Friday I went to a holiday sale. No pictures, but I did buy a box of holiday cards, I thought they were cute and would be nice to use for the season. I bought a few ornaments and some yummy baked goods. I went there on the way to work.
Found out I will have to move sometime next year, not pleased about that. I was hoping to have this new job for a year and save some of my extra money before having to move, so much for that. Friday night we had a movie night at the library, watched Inside Out. That was a cute movie. The thing I really hate about watching movies in public is that I can't cry at the sad parts.
Saturday, I helped my mom bring out some Christmas decorations, she signed up to be part of a holiday home tour this year, so we're bringing it all out.
Today, I had a women's basketball game to work

Found out on Wednesday that my brother won't be coming for Thanksgiving. I think it's just going to be the three of us, which I hate. I feel like I spend too much time with my parents as it is and I really don't want to spend all day with them, fielding questions about health care and if I've looked here, there and everywhere for apartments. I had this great idea about cooking Thanksgiving, but then I looked at the squash soup recipe I had and realized it's not what I thought. We're thinking about having stuffed pork chops as the main dish, anyone have any suggestions for other dishes?

And that's my week, next week will be more of the same, I don't guess anything exciting will happen.

Monday, November 02, 2015

I think this might be the new normal on here. I like putting my updates in a weekly post.

I was racking my brain trying to remember what I did on Sunday, the answer, mostly nothing. I'm not in the weekend rotational at the library until I'm more trained in this job, so I have the weekends off lately. Usually Sunday, though that will change this month. I know last Sunday was a beautiful day, but it was the day I had off that I didn't have anything to do, so I stayed home and either watched DVDs or read books, honestly, I don't really know.

Monday, I don't know what I did most of the day either (maybe I should come on here and record my days even if I don't post until the end of the week). My boss asked me to go out with the bookmobile when I got to work, that was a fun change of pace.

Tuesday I was going to go get winter shoes, but I didn't make it out of the house, Tuesday night I went out with the bookmobile again, those stops were a little slow.

Wednesday, my schedule changed and I was going in to close, so I finally made it to the mall to get shoes. It was a particularly cold and windy day on Wednesday. I misplaced my keys Tuesday night, so I missed the first bus to the mall, when I found them, I chose the wrong coat for the wind and froze. I went to Walmart and picked up a Halloween costume, I originally planned to just use clothes from around the house and go as Sad from Inside Out (minus the blue hair), but I found a really cute concert and bought one. I also bought another pair of boots I had bought a week or so earlier at the other Walmart, that way I have at least 2 pairs even if they're not very fancy looking. Bought some more nicer looking knee-high socks. I wandered over to the mall to look at Younkers boots, but even with the sale they had going on, I felt it was too much for a pair of boots, I did find a nice gray cardigan for the winter. I went to Kohl's hoping they would have this cork reindeer I saw last year (my mother and I thought we could make it, we collected the corks but never actually made the reindeer) and bought it for my brother. I'm completely done shopping for my mother for Christmas, I have some more to buy for my brother, I haven't even started for my dad or my brother's girlfriend.

Also, bought some candy for me at cheap Halloween prices, and headed home. I could not get warm when I got home, and then I had to go out later for work.

Thursday was my day off, but I had to go do laundry, which is not fun in itself. I use my parents washer and dryer which is smaller than normal ones and takes twice as long. I also have to avoid the annoying questions that my parents ask. They treat me like I'm a little kid, but the laundry's free, so I guess it's a trade off. I had to do it earlier this week because I had a meeting at work. My meeting at work was as interesting as I thought it would be, then I went home and attempted to read some of my books that were getting due.

Friday, I got my costume ready:

It's Madame Hatter. It also came with a purple bow choker and a headband with a tophat and cards in the hat. I don't like things that close to my neck, and headbands don't stay on me. I also thought this was a little short, so I felt I was yanking it down all day. Everyone I ran into said I looked cute though and I really liked it, so win. Friday night I went to a party at a co-workers, that was fun to get away from work and eat.
Saturday, I had a volleyball match to work. It was nice to get back into routine at Hilton, but volleyball is pretty slow, and it was, especially with the football game scheduled that night and the not so great weather. Later that afternoon, my mother and I went to Younkers, a flower shop and Walmart. I had to go back to Younkers to return some Spanx that in no way would have fit even though they said they would. We went over to a flower shop to get some decorating ideas for my mother. She signed up to do a holiday home tour, which I think was a bit soon because she hasn't really done any holiday decorating at their condo, but who am I to argue. Sometimes, I think she says yes to too many things. She's always saying she doesn't have time for fun things because she's got so many other things to do. I do know, she doesn't like to sit and do nothing, so she signs up for things. I guess that's why she never understands why reading is so important to me. I found some great ideas for me:

Like I said above, we have a lot of collected corks, I thought this might be a nice way to arrange them.

This one's a little harder to see, it's a tree made out of snowflakes. I really like snowmen and snowflakes when decorating for the holidays, because you can leave them out all season long. Plus, they don't offend people.

I love this pillow. I think it would be a great way to use up buttons.

I also like the simple tree on this tag.

Love this tree as well, another great way to use something differently.

I mostly collect snowmen for the winter holidays, this one was cute.

And another cute pillow.
My mother bought me a bird for a stocking stuffer. I keep thinking I have way too much stuff. I don't like decorating for every holiday, because I don't like cycling my stuff, but I love bringing out my snowmen for winter. I have a lot of snowmen, I weeded a bunch a few years ago when I thought I'd have to move, and then got more selective of what I kept and got. I also started collecting owls, I have a tree and spot where they stay all year long, a few only come out at the holidays because they are obviously holiday owls. I've also started collecting birds, I have 3 right now, but I guess I'm getting more. I sit on my couch and decide I should get rid of some of my stuff or at least rearrange, that might happen soon. I might have to move next year, my landlords are deciding, so I should weed more stuff anyway, cause I hate moving, it's so much work and I have way too much stuff.
We traveled back to Walmart (which is right next to our mall, where Younkers is) and I am proud to say I didn't spend money on anything I didn't need. I really wanted to buy the Welch's sparkling grape juice, but I didn't.
They were playing Christmas music in the flower store to go with their holiday open house, I decided it was too early to be listening to that, unless it Trans Siberian Orchestra, or the Muppets Christmas album, which are on my mp3 player all year long, I never get tired of those.
Saturday night ended with Maximum Overdrive, which is my yearly Halloween movie, though it gets a little lamer every time I watch it.

Yesterday I didn't have anything to do, so I mostly sat at home and read my books. Ransom Riggs has a third book out in his Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series (I really hope it's only 3 books), so I had the first two checked out to read again (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Hollow City), they are due today, so I had to finish them. Sometimes I wish I could just read books forever and not have to deal with adult things, it's so nice to lose yourself in a book.

Today, I'm reading Grey by E.L. James, it goes along with her Fifty Shades of Grey books, this is told from Christian's point of view. I'm not sure what to expect. I read the others just to see what the hype was about, and by halfway through the second book, I got a little bored with the S&M. I couldn't watch the movie, because I knew it didn't match what was in my head.